I am fairly confident that we will have a new, legitimate, starting caliber center next year. I think the past 2 seasons we held back somewhat in that pursuit because there was still the possibility of Yao returning. The difference now is we have officially moved on. Morey has said on record that improving our defense this year will be on him(personnel), instead of the coaching staff. And I believe he will deliver. So who do you think will be our starting center next year? A few names that have popped up: Enes Kanter Potential star? Potential bust? Few have seen him enough to tell for sure. In order to move up high enough to draft him, at least one of our top veterans will be required. Martin/Scola. High risk, high reward. Jonas Valanciunas Less star potential than Kanter, but much better scouted so less risk as well. Small chance of dropping due to contractual issues, otherwise would take a similar package as Kanter to obtain. Bismack Biyombo Similar to Kanter in that there is too little sample size to tell one way or another. They say Ben Wallace/Rodman type. Personally, if he is anywhere close to 18 years old, I think he has the potential of a poor-man's Olajuwon. Or Saer Sene, who knows. Would still most likely need to move up a few picks, but requires less than the previous two. Medium risk, high reward. Omer Asik A safe bet and would improve our defense immediately. 25 years old so upside is limited. However much more proven than players in the draft, so his floor would be much higher as well, with little downside. Would take at least Lee to acquire. Low risk, good reward. Nikola Vucevic NBA size, good offensive skills, good jump shot, 20 years old. GMs often draft/trade to fit their coaches. Vucevic would definitely be a McHale type player, IMO. Low risk, medium reward. Marc Gasol Most likely unattainable. Hasheem Thabeet Good luck. Chuck Hayes Would it really surprise you if he turned out the be the best player out of the whole lot, anyways? I think it will come down to Biyombo or Asik. They bring a similar skillset to the table and fit our needs, while realistically attainable. If Morey believes it is on him to improve our defense, then those are the likely candidates. Personally, I'd be happy with either. Biyombo brings a higher upside with potential on the offensive end, while Asik is ready to anchor a top 10 defense now.
I think it will be Chuck Hayes, unless the Rockets somehow trade for Asik, or sign Gasol, or maybe Dalembert. I really doubt a rookie draft pick would be thrown into the starting lineup over Chuck. It will have to happen over time. Of course this is assuming Chuck stays with the Rockets instead of bolting to another team.
Like I said, if he is anywhere close to 18, which is a big if, then NO ONE knows what he can be at his very very very very very best.
He has bad hands, no offense except putback type of O, average IQ, low understanding of the game, no expirience All in his game depends on hustle, this makes him an average basketball player, extremely overrated in most parts of the game. Carl Landry in his first two seasons rebounded the ball with a huge energy and hustle and was rated as one of the best NBA rebounders that were oftenly coming off the bench. When he lost his crazy determination to work on boards, he became one of the worst rebounders among all NBA bigmen in rotation minutes. That's what it's all about
Stopped reading there. Yes, he has very little basketball experience. So does that mean his offense, Bball iq, and understanding of the game will never get better?
i voted hasheem only cuz of his size and he will be working out in the off season....but i still believe chuck hayes has a good chance of starting again
You are leaving on another planet. You can't change basketball IQ. You have it or you doesn't. You can't go there and make a Hakeem Olajuwon of Jordan Hill in terms of understanding of the game, you can't make Tracy McGrady of Von Wafer etc When dude has no skills but he has excellent B-ball IQ you can count on him, because you can develop your skills but you can't change your brains. Look at Chuck Hayes. He had no skills and potential but he had mind. Then take a look on Hasheem: he has all the tools in terms of NBA body but he's a stupid player and he is in the middle of freaking nowhere Experience means everything when you are trying to straight to NBA level out of nowhere. Darko Milicic had no experince, Tskitishvili had no experience, Hasheem had a little experience same as Araujo and all of them are busts. And I just mentioned bigmen, not all of the players. Serge Ibaka came from nowhere, but his parents were basketball players, he started to play early and he was playing in Joventud - very nice european club that created and developed such youngsters as Rubio and Fernandez
OK, again, by YOUR logic, you either know basketball or you don't? It's not something you can learn? I see. Next time I go to the doctor, I'm gonna ask him how he started his practice. If he says he went to school to become a doctor, I'm gonna leave because either you have it or you don't.
Much like the English language, basketball skills can be improved upon over time, especially for an 18 year old. As for basketball IQ, few if any have seen him enough to be able to judge.
If it is Chuck Hayes I will have to seriously question the Rockets organization. While I personally love Chuck, he needs to go to a contender, someone that can utilize his skills and help a team over the hump. The Rockets need to develop and not one of the rookies would help win as much as Chuck, nor would Hasheem, at least not next year, but developing someone will help the team in the long run, and for that reason alone, I think they need to play Hasheem. Got to pay the man, let's find out what he does with consitent playing time and coaching. DD
I'll take this guys take on Biyombo over yours. You yourself said it is something you have or you don't. I took your logic and applied it to a different scenario. You see how stupid it looked? Yeah, that's your brilliant logic at work. EDIT- I somewhat agree with you, DD. I think the Rockets should spend real live minutes developing the young bigs, but I think to start the season it will be Chuck (if he is here). Once Hill or Thabeet or any other young guy gets consistent minutes and starts improving, I would love to see someone new start at center.
You are just useless if you can't realize that basketball IQ is a combo of many many many components, such as reaction, timing, ability to make quick and right decision under pressure, ability to see the play before it even set up, ability to adjust on purpose, ability to predict the next move of your opponent etc and all of this is happening in one tenth of the second, maybe two. Talent mean nothing without basketball IQ. Sebastian Telfair should be a dominant point guard in terms of god given talent, but he's Busty Telfair and he is a rotation player in Minnesota (the worst team in the NBA for the last five years) in the best of circumstances. If you can't understand and realize that, I'm out of this crap. Hakeem, Mutombo or Ben Wallace were great defensive centers because they had great IQ and they were able to adjust on a lot things that were happening on the floor in a heartbeat, not because they were athletic or tough
Left off Marcus Cousin. Just saying. Might as well, since Jordan Hill and Hasheem Thabeet are on there. So, other. Keep trying to add s to that last name. Must be a mental slip or something.
So I am useless because I believe that Biyombo could be a good player in the NBA? You keep trying to explain bball iq to me, like I don't know what that means. I am simply trying to point out to you that you initially said that Biyombo has no bball iq, no understanding of the game. How can you judge someone's career by looking at one season? You should add yourself to your sig.
